Think Progress: Sojourners ad: What Would Jesus Cut?

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Religious Coalition Tells The GOP That ‘The Budget Shouldn’t Be Balanced On the Backs Of The Poor’

In an address at the National Association of Religious Broadcasters Sunday, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) made a moral case for the deep cuts passed by House Republicans, saying, “t is immoral to rob our children’s future and make them beholden to China.” But Sojourners, a progressive group of Christian leaders, looks at the GOP’s deep slashes to the budget in a different light and bought a full-page ad in Politico yesterday that asks legislators to consider, “what would Jesus cut?”

The leader of Sojourners, Rev. Jim Wallis, notes that the GOP’s cuts would severely slash spending for the WIC program, which helps women and infants, Head Start and international aid programs, but would leave “military spending untouched“:

They’re talking about cutting bed nets for malaria and leaving every piece of military spending untouched. Are we saying that every piece of military equipment is more important than bed nets, children’s health and nutrition for low-income families? If so they should be ashamed of themselves.

If House Republicans get their way, they would cut $210 million from Maternal and Health Block Grants, which give low-income mothers, pregnant women, and their children access to health care. They also want to cut $27 million from the Poison Control Center, essentially eliminating the program, even though poisoning primarily affects children under six years old.